318 



CHINA. 



11..' :r. 



titer>. 



..r Yellow 

 Kiver. 



lain*, which were obmd by the gentlemen of the Bri- 

 tish tm''i,y , were of primeval granite, few of sand- 

 Mooe, mud the smaller hilli, of lime- (tone or coarae gray 

 mirblr. There it rather a curious mountain between the 

 province* of Quantong and Kung-see, called Melin, to 

 the top of which there ii a paved road in a zig-zag di- 

 n ; and at the top ii a narrow pan cut through a 

 granite rock, in the middle of which if a military poit 

 with two old piece* of cannon. The bae of this hill is cp- 

 wred whh cottage*, and the view from its summit is said 

 lo present two very opposite prospects.one rich and beau- 

 tiful towards the outh, and another dreary and barren 

 towards the northern regions. Of their mountains, the 

 Chinese relate many wonderful stories ; such as, that 

 there are some of them, which render those who retire to 

 live upon them immortal ; that one in Shen-see is the ex- 

 act figure of a large cock, and sometimes crows so loud, 

 as to be heard at the distance of three leagues ; that ano- 

 ther in Fokien trembles before a storm, moving back- 

 wards and forwards like a tree agitated by the wind ; that 

 another in Shen-see vomits forth flames, rain, and wind, 

 whenever any one beats a drum, or plays upon any musi- 

 cal instrument in its neighbourhood ; and that one in Fo- 

 kien represents a colossal figure of the god Fo, which is 

 so immensely gigantic, that each of the eyes is several 

 mile* in circumference, and the nose several miles in ex- 

 tent. 



Lakes and swamps are extremely numerous in China, 

 and are supposed to cover nearly one-fourth part of the 

 country. The principal lakes are two in Kiangnan, the 

 Hong tse and Kao-yeoo ; the Tai-hoo, which is partly 

 in the same province ; the Tong-ting-hoo, in the pro- 

 vince of Hoo-quang, said to be more than 80 leagues in 

 circumference ; and the Poyang-hoo in Kiang-see, which 

 is subject to tempests like the sea, and, including the sur- 

 rounding marshes, is nearly 100 leagues in length. It 

 lie* remarkably low, and is considered as the sink of 

 China. Rivers flow into it in all directions, four of which 

 are of a very considerable size ; and the country around it 

 Las, for many mile*, the appearance of a uniform marsh, 

 without one visible sign of cultivation, and without any 

 inhabitants but a few miserable fishermen, whose huts and 

 boats appear here and there upon the brinks of the small- 

 er pools. Its vicinity, in short, is described as one of the 

 most di rotate and dreary regions in nature; and, by such 

 an extent of waters and swampy grounds, the tempera- 

 ture of the surrounding atmosphere is reduced a number 

 of degrees below that of the adjacent country. 



All the great rivers of China fall from the high lands 

 of Tartary on the north of Thibet, and cross trie plains 

 of the country in their descent to tie sva from west to 

 east. The two principal rivers arc the Hoangho.or Yellow 

 River, so called from the yellow colour, imparted to its 

 water* by the mud or clay, which it washes down from 

 the mountains in the rainy seasons ; takes its rise under the 

 35" of north latitude, in the mountains of Kokonor in 

 Tartary ; pisses through a considerable part of that 

 country along the outside of the Great Wall ; enters 

 China between the provinces of Shcn-see and Shan-see ; 

 traverse* the province of Honan, and a part of Kiang- 

 nan ; and, after a course of 600 or 700 leagues, falls into 

 the Eastern Sea, not far from the mouth of the Kiang. 

 It* stream is extremely rapid, and frequently overflows 

 iti bank*, along which in many place* are raised dykes 

 of great length, composed of alternate beds of clay and 

 itraw, while mot of the cities in the vicinity of its chan- 

 nel are surrounded with ttrong rampart* of earth faced 

 with turf. In t line works immense sums of money 

 kavc been expended ; and the emperor Kang-hec declare! 



in his last will, tnit 3,000,000 ounces of silver, or 

 it? 1,000,000 sterling, were annually employed to restrain ***'"">, 

 this river within its banks. But notwithstanding all ~^*~* 

 these precautions, the low country through wlmhit 

 flow* i* so liable to inundations, that the Chinese affirm 

 its overflowings to have been more destructive than the 

 united effects of war, pestilence, and famine. Its breadth, 

 at the distance of 25 leagues from its mouth, is not les* 

 than 500 or 600 toises ; but its waters are to extremely 

 shallow, that it is scarcely navigable to any extent. It 

 washes down such an enormous mass of mud with it* 

 waters, that the quantity was found, by experiment, to 

 equal two millions of solid feet in one hour ; and this 

 slimy matter, after entering the Yellow Sea, being carried 

 by a strong wind to the Gulf of Pe-tche-lee, where the 

 stillness of the water allows it to subside, forms innume- 

 rable islands and sand-banks in that remarkably shallow 

 bay. 



The next great river of China, i the Yang-tse-kiang, y. , w . 

 or Son of the Sea, which has its source in the country of Kiang, or 

 the Too-fan, about 33" of north latitude ; traverses a part Son of the 

 of the provinces of Yan-nan, Se-tchuen, Hoo quang, Sea. 

 and Kiang- nan, through a course of more than 700 

 leagues ; and falls into the Eastern sea in the 32 of north 

 latitude, opposite to the island of Tson-ming, whicli i* 

 supposed to have been formed by the soil carried down 

 by the stream, and which is not less than 20 leagues in 

 length by six in breadth. This river is less rapid, but 

 much deeper than the Hoang-ho. At the distance of 

 30 leagues from its mouth, it is fully a league in breadth ; 

 and, at the distance of 1-1-0, it is net less than half a 

 league wide. It forms numerous islands in its course, 

 which it is continually sweeping away, and replacing 

 with others ; and, from the reeds which grow upon 

 these accumulations of soil, to the height of ten or twelve 

 feet, the cities along its banks are abundantly provided 

 with fuel. In consequence of these shifting banks, and 

 the great rapidity of its stream, its navigation is very 

 dangerous, and daily proves fatal to numbers of vessels. 



Some of the smaller rivers are, the Pei-ho, which flows Smaller 

 through the province of Pe-tche-lee, and which has re- rivcrl - 

 markably low, sandy banks ; theEu-ho, or precious river, 

 called also Yung-leang-ho, the river upon which grain it 

 transported, flows from the westward, and forms a con- 

 fluence with the Pei-ho at Tien-*i)g ; the Pei-kiang-ho, 

 which rises in the mountain of Melin bet ween the province* 

 of Kian-see and Quan-tong, flows by the port of Canton, 

 and is familiarly known in Europe by the name of Bocca 

 Tigris; and the Kan-kiang-tio, in the province of Kiang- 

 see, in the course of which is a remarkable cataract 

 called Shee-pa-tan, or the eighteen cataracts, a succession 

 of torrents formed by ledges of rock running across the 

 bed of the river. It is a place greatly dreaded by the 

 Chinese, on account of the multitude of boats which are 

 dashed to piece* in the passage j and yet it is represented 

 as by no means so dangerous as the (all it London 

 bridge, about the time of half tide. But the Chinese 

 display neither dexterity nor courage in the manage- 

 ment of their vessels in luch situations of danger ; and, 

 instead of exerting their own attention and activity, are 

 apt to leave the boat to itself, while they set to the 

 burning of sandal wood matchi-s, and the sounding of 

 their gongs, to appease the river-deity. The country 

 around this cataract is described a peculiarly beautiful, 

 the stream itself transparent, and abounding in dh, its. 

 bold rocky banks fringed with wood, and the mountain* 

 covered with the larch fir, and * fine plant called cameli* 

 Jiipunica, resembling the tea shrub. 



China produce! the greater part cf the fruits, which 



